Container shipping of products has gained wide acceptance in the market in recent years. Use of shipping containers permits efficiency of handling and thus lower cost shipping even when the products being shipped and handled are of diverse character. Shipping containers are typically provided in conventional sizes to readily fit allocated spaces in trucks, railway vehicles, marine vessels, etc. Shipping containers permit the shipping of various size products and products of diverse characters since the containers provide structural walls to retain and protect the products.
Where products are prepared on pallets for shipment, even when the palletized products are encapsulated by a protective covering, there has been a problem of pilferage during shipping. Even when products are contained within protective shipping containers the only means to insure against pilferage is to provide appropriate container seals. If a container seal is broken upon arrival of the container at its destination, the shipper will typically be liable for the loss in the event pilferage has occurred.
Although shipment of products in shipping containers has gained wide acceptance in the transportation industry, empty containers represent a significant problem from the standpoint of handling, storage and maintenance. An empty shipping container typically requires as much storage space as when full and therefore a significant amount of storage space is required. Even when shipping containers are stored outdoors, a significant amount of storage space is required. The cost of this storage space represents a significant burden to the shipping industry. This financial burden is of course passed on through the shipper to the ultimate consumer along with other costs of shipping. When shipping containers are stored in an outdoor environment, they tend to deteriorate from exposure to weather conditions. During handling, shipping containers are often damaged. Thus significant maintenance expense is required which is of course passed on to the ultimate consumer of the goods being shipped. It is desirable therefore to provide an effective shipping container system that requires less storage space than is typical for empty shipping containers, thus permitting them to be stored in a more protective environment when not in use. It is also desirable to provide a shipping container system wherein the shipping containers are of reduced dimension when empty, thereby permitting ease of storage, handling and returning to the shipper.